Making a move on my road bike from 28 4Seasons to 32 Vittoria Hypers for a combo of urban pothole streets and recreational paved lanes and wondering what PSI people recommend.

Also - should I switch from the Conti Race 28 tubes I've been using?

87.4 psi. Or something within 10-15 psi of that.


Most tubes in that range are sold as 28-32, so I'd keep what you got until your first flat. Then put in a new tube and carry the old one home to patch at your leisure.

Current tubes should be just fine, unless they were too small for your 28s and you stretched them for those tires. 80 or 90 psi I'm sure will be fine depending on your weight. If you want to be anal about it, use this online PSI calculator:

Bicycle tire pressure calculator

The max pressure rating on the sidewalls for the Vittoria Voyager Hyper is 90 PSI. I usually run mine at 85 rear and 75 front for road riding, and about 5-10 lbs less for unpaved surfaces.

I weigh 160 and my bike weighs 24 pounds. I run my 32 Hypers at 60 rear and 45 or 50 front for my paved urban commute. Check a tire pressure calculator and then adjust a bit until you get what you like. I get a little more rolling resistance at pressures lower than I listed, and going higher does not seem to make them roll easier, but it does make my old bones rattle more on rough stuff.

If you + bike are 100 kg, the Berto/Heine chart implies like less than 60 front, more than 70 rear. How brave do you feel? The chart also matches what [MENTION=308459]motorapido[/MENTION] says for himself at 84kg.

I'm a little bigger and I was running 70/80 on some cheaper, harder 32's with no problem.

I now have Hypers in 35 size and am running them at 50/60 and loving it, they don't feel squirmy.

I just switched off from that tire. I'm lazy about airing up my tires, so I used to pump them up to 85 on Sunday and then not fill up again until just before a longer recreational ride on Saturdays. They'd be at 65 or so by the end of the week. They felt fine at both the high and the lower end to me. But I'm not super picky about these things.

Also on tubes... According to Conti's website, "Race 28" is the name of all the 700c road tubes. There are four models...
Race 28 for 18-25 mm
Race 28 Light for 18-25mm
Race 28 Supersonic ultralight for 18-25mm
Race 28 Wide for 25-32 mm

If you have the Wide ones already, you are ok. If you don't, you are probably still ok, but you can change it if you want to be sure. The only time I've ever had a problem was in using a hybrid size tube with a big patch in a MTB tire, where the patch reinforced the tube right underneath it causing the tube all around it to have to stretch a lot more, and it tore.

It depends on your weight, but if you have a 200lb load on your bike with 32mm tires, you should have
65-70psi pavement, and
45-55 gravel.

The hyper has really, really low rolling resistance, even in large sizes. It doesn't have near the puncture resistance of the 4 Season though, so be careful there. I got some 32mm 4 seasons (hard to find) and they are so, so much better than the 28mm size. The 28's run small, so there is a huge difference in size. How do you like the new tires?

People have figured out that with a good tire like that, you can go really low without much decrease in rolling resistance. There is about a 2-3 watt difference between 60-90 psi, and maybe only 4 additional watts at 45psi. Really, at 45 psi, you are only talking about 22 watts resistance, and that is incredible - I would wager that is less than 90% of the tires people are using on the commuting forum, at any pressure.

And, here is a pretty chart for ya from the tire pressure experts at Bicycle Quarterly:

This is what I found. I was shocked at how much faster I was on that tire. But after six flats (or was it five?) in 1600 miles, I had to give up on them for commuting purposes. Memphis city streets are just way too rough for this tire. But if you want a fast ride on nice, smooth roads, it's a gorgeous ride.

Ah, the #whatpressureareyourunning threads. Experiment! Tubes will be fine

I've got 5,000+ miles on my Vittoria Hyper 32s with perhaps one flat during that period, and most of that mileage has been commuting on city streets. The Hypers roll considerably better than other 32s that I've tried, including Panaracer Paselas, Gravel Kings, Clement LAS. Rolling resistance is comparable to Rivendell Jack Browns, which are about the same width.

I have them in 40mm, and love them. Been running them a bit over 65 on rear.. think I may start bumping it down some. I only have a few hundred miles on them so far, but no flats yet. Knock on wood.

I love the Hyper. Unfortunately, I'll have to give them up or at least one of them, because I got the 35 aka 37 size, and they don't fit my bikes except for the one I'll be selling. Puncture protection wasn't a big criterion for me, and I haven't gotten any flats on them anyway. (I might be able to fit the wider tire on the front of my new favorite bike.)

Because the sidewall is so supple, I got away with riding them with very low pressures. The rear started wiggling when it got to 30 or lower.

Yea I don't want to drop it too much...I don't like tires feeling TOO soft. I think 55-60 will probably be perfect.

I'm surprised mine fit. I have the 38 AKA 40.

+1

I have both the 700x32 and the 700x40 and agree that it's a very fast tire with a smooth ride and good flat protection. Its the best do-everything tire I've ever used.

I'm 225 lbs and use about 63 psi on the front and 80 on the rear when using the 700x32.